I finally got around to checking out Centriole's in Girardsville, PA. It has been in operation since 1930 and is very unique. Girardville is just off the junction of 61 and 81 on the way to Knoebel's amusement park. To sum it up quick here is an article.

This article is no exaggeration. I have tried calling them for some time but never got through until yesterday. I called Saturday at 10am for a 6pm pie but 8pm was the earliest they could fit me in. Apparently they only serve from Thursday to Saturday and they sell out every day. I arrived 1/2 hour early and got to watch the operation. There was a women and a younger man prepping the pies and another women that cooked and boxed. Everyone was very nice. The side room (kitchen) of the house is so small that the standard pizza oven took up 30% of the space. I would say that only six people could fit. The pizza was interesting. It is cooked in seasoned steel pans about 1/2 high. Probably 10 x 16 since the box measures 13x13. I have never had Detroit style but I assume is similar. The interesting thing is the prep. They pre-pan all the skins and dimple them. These raised skins are then prepared. They fold the dough in 1/2 on top of itself and use a paint brush to oil the pan. They then do the other side and re-dimple the dough again. This second dimple is done with both hands for at least 4 passes. The interesting thing is that it is not raised after that. They just sauce, cheese, and bake. This is opposite of what I have ever done. It works for the overall product because the dimples hold the sauce so the cheese does not float. This is important because the cheese is a very tough Provalone that needs the dough backing to bite it correctly. Please note the pictures below on how dense the crumb is. You can also see the dimples. The cheese they use is ground very fine and ball like.

It is very sweet and works well with the whole product. When they used the boat ladle to apply the sauce it was actually a good 1/2 inch higher than the sides of the ladle. This gives you an idea of how thick it is. It did not seem too complex as some places can be. I would guess that it is cut with honey or dissolved brown sugar with clove added. If I were going to clone this I would purchase Bonta extra thick pizza sauce or the Stanislaus counter part. These products are basically sweet tomato paste, and do not need much help, so take the addition slow until you reach the desired taste. For the cheese I would get a hard mild provalone but definitely not a product like Grande. You do not want creamy. Note on the picture how the cheese pulls of like a scab on a child's knee (Eeew). It was very tough to the bite. I would also follow the Victory Pig thread for the dough but not let it rise after the last dimpling. I would also cut back on the yeast a bit. The thickness factory may have to go up a tad too because of the shear density of the dough. I would also guess you would want a hot oven at about 525 to 550 to get the same burnt cheese affect. The bottom was lightly browned but the tinfoiled box combined with the heat of the final product softened it, In fact I had trouble carrying it because it was so hot.

It was great to see an institution like this still around. I liked the taste and can see why they have a die hard following. For me though it was a bit too much. I would only eat it occasionally because of the digestability factor and sweetness. When consuming that much cheese fat with sugar the pounds just add right up.

One other note would be that they give you a tomato based hot dipping sauce to go with the pie.